Doctors are desperately warning people about the latest trend on TikTok: A nasal spray that gives users a fake tan from within.
Ahhh TikTok. Who could have possibly guessed that getting tanned by snorting an unregulated product would be a bad idea?
Well, it is a bad idea. A very bad one in fact. Nasal tanning sprays are yet to receive any formal testing, and side effects are already being reported.
These side effects include “increased moles and freckles, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, flushing of the face, involuntary stretching and yawning, and spontaneous erections.”
Scary stuff, right? But also, how on earth does a nasal spray give you a fake tan anyway?
Well, UK doctor Gabriella Birley told The Daily Mail, “The products have been designed to try and stimulate melanocytes which are the cells in your skin that produce pigment.”
While the short-term side effects aren’t ideal, it’s the potential long-term consequences that doctors are really worried about.
“Due to the lack of testing, it is unknown whether this has the potential to overstimulate those cells and potentially cause something more sinister like melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer,” warned Birley.
So please, please, please avoid this viral BeautyTok trend. Not only does fake tanning have underlying racial issues, these products could literally kill you.
